Scenes and Cinema

Powerpoint To Video Tutorial

Jendi — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 12:54:51 +0000

How to Turn a Slide Show Into a Video

If you have a winning slideshow and want to turn it into a video, how do you do it? Unfortunately, PowerPoint doesn’t inherently have an “export to video” feature. However, using PowerPoint’s built in slideshow construction features and third party software, you can easily turn your slideshow into a video work of art.

Before we get into the technical aspects of converting a slideshow into a video, here are a few tips to make sure your slides come out stellar once they’re converted to vide.

How To Make A Slideshow That Shines

1) Have a consistent design throughout the slides and video. It can be very jarring on the eyes if you’re constantly switching backgrounds, focal points and overall design scheme. This is even truer in a video presentation than a slideshow presentation. With a slideshow presentation, usually you’re the focal point and the slideshow is just an aid. When the slideshow video itself is the focal point, you need to put a lot more attention into making sure that the design is seamless from slide to slide.

2) If you’re narrating the slides, narrate slowly and enunciate each and every point. Don’t assume that people can follow you if you’re speaking quickly. Remember that speaking for a virtual audience looking at slides and speaking in front of a real live audience are completely different. In person audiences can infer your meaning from your body language and other visual cues. Online, all they have is your voice. Make sure your voice is coming through crystal clear.

3) Start by presenting your hypothesis, main point or overall lesson. Make sure that users know what you’re about to cover before jumping straight into your slideshow.

4) Consider adding a couple animations. Having an opening animation can help draw attention and make your video look more professional. Having animations inside your actual slideshow can help mix things up and give your viewer more of a sense of variety. That said, it’s possible to go overboard on the animations. Animations should be used to accentuate your main points, not overpower the overall presentation.

5) Use 2 or 3 shocking or well documented statistics. For example, if you’re doing a slideshow on preventing cancer, you might want to include some statistics from the World Health Organization or the Center for Disease Control. Statistics should either serve to reinforce your point, or serve to strike an emotional cord.

6) Try to add something lighthearted or humorous. Just like animations, these should be used in moderation. That said, having just a pinch of humor can change the whole vibe of the presentation.

7) Close with power. Research shows that people tend to remember the beginning and the end of a presentation more than any other part of the presentation. If you end your presentation with a strong closing statement, people are much more likely to think highly of the presentation you created.

Now that we’ve covered how to create a good slideshow presentation, let’s look into how to turn that powerpoint into an actual video.

Step 1: Set the Transition Lengths

Let PowerPoint know how quickly you want to cycle through the slides. You can set different lengths for different slides.

Start by switching to the “Animation” tab.

Then set the transition time for the slide you’re on by clicking and changing the “Automatically After” field.

Step 2: Record Your Narration

If you plan on narrating your video, first go to the “Slideshow” tab.

Click the “Record Narration” button. The narration box will popup.

Using the record narration feature, you can record separate narrations for each slide in your presentation.

Step 3: Save as PPT

By default, later versions of PowerPoint save files as .pptx. Using .ppt instead of .pptx ensures higher compatibility and lowers the chances of errors happening during conversion.

Save your new slideshow as a PPT file.

Step 4: Create an AuthorStream Account

There are several different services you can use to convert your PPT file to a video. Most of them are downloadable software; and by and large you have to pay for them.

AuthorStream on the other hand is an online service that allows you to convert files up to 500 MBs in size for free. Beyond that, converting up to 100 minutes of video costs $3.

Start by going to http://www.authorstream.com to create a free account.

Step 5: Upload Your Video

Click “Upload” then “Upload from Desktop” to start the upload process.

Click “Upload” then choose the file you want to upload.

Step 6: Enter Video Details

Enter a title and description for your newly uploaded video. You can also tag and set privacy settings.

Step 7: Convert to Video

Now that your slideshow is uploaded, the final step is to convert the slideshow to video.

Click “My Presentations” under “My Stuff.”

Then click “Convert to Video” under “Video.”

Step 8: Download or YouTube the Video

Once your video is converted, you’ll be able to download it by going to “My Presentations” under “My Stuff.”

You can either download it to your hard drive, or send it straight to YouTube.

You’ve now learned how to create a video-ready slideshow by changing a powerpoint to video. Using video slideshows is one of the easiest and fastest ways to create an informative, persuasive or entertaining video.

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Marketing Tips 25 | Diversify

Jendi — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 13:49:03 +0000

Find what works for you, but don’t stop there. Keep trying new things. Even if something didn’t work well last year, it might work great this year. The online world is constantly changing and offline people react differently than last year.

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Online Videos Are Easier Than You Think

Jendi — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 13:39:56 +0000

Creating online videos is both more complicated and simpler than most people imagine. It’s more complicated in that you do need to have a bit of set-up and planning in order to get it right. However, it’s much simpler than a lot of people think it is. It’s not rocket science and you don’t need to spend tens of thousands of dollars.

Here’s how to create top-notch online videos.

1. Handle the Audio First

Getting the audio correct is most of the game. Even if your video quality isn’t perfect, your audio quality really should be. If people can hear what you’re saying clearly and what you’re saying is compelling, your video can be mediocre quality and people will still love it. On the other hand, if you have stellar HD video but people can’t hear what you’re saying, your video quality won’t matter.

Invest in a microphone. If you can, purchase a clip-on lapel mic with a wireless transmitter that attaches to a wireless receiver on your camera. That way you can clip your mic to your shirt, move about freely and not have to worry about cable lengths. You can also usually hide the mic so your users don’t even see it on screen.

2. Getting Good Video

Camera quality does matter, but high quality cameras are much more affordable today than you’d expect. For just a few hundred dollars today you can capture video that used to cost tens of dollars just a few years ago.

When you’re filming, experiment with a few different angles. If you can, have two cameras going simultaneously so you can cut in and out of various angles. If you can’t there are some editing tricks you can use to make it look like you had more than one camera.

Try to have either two still cameras, or one camera that’s still and one that’s moving. If you must only have one camera, it’s probably better to have a still camera unless you also purchase expensive tripod equipment so the camera can be moved smoothly while filming.

3. Editing Top-Notch Videos For Online

While you can create basic videos in low-end editors that come with your operating system (Windows Video or iMovie) or free editors like YouTube offers, you’ll eventually need to get a professional grade editor if you really want to produce top-notch videos.

Look into editors like Pinnacle, Sony Vegas, Magix, Final Cut Pro and Adobe Premiere. Each have very loyal followings and have their own pros and cons. If you want to do special effects, you’ll also want to look into motion graphics software like Adobe After Effects.

To start with, you don’t need to invest in all these different programs. Nor should you, as they can have quite a steep learning curve. But if you want to create top-notch videos in the long run, you’ll at some point have to switch from basic editors to editors that can do more complicated things.

Those are the three most important aspects of creating great online videos: audio, video and editing everything together.

Video Marketing Online – How to use your online marketing videos

Marketing Tips 24 | Location Based Services

Jendi — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 16:04:44 +0000

With mobile devices and free wi-fi on the rise you need to think about utilizing location based services for your business.

15 Location Based Services

Yelp
Neer
Foursquare
Whrrl
Loopt
Gowalla
SCVNGR
Facebook Places
Friendsaround
Where.com
Brightkite
Qwik-facts
Guestlistnation
Google Maps
Geoloqi

At the very least make sure your business is listed in some of these location based services. If you want to ramp things up you can use check-ins to offer discounts, coupons, rewards, etc.

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Marketing Tips 23 | QR Code

Jendi — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 14:26:34 +0000

If you haven’t seen a QR code somewhere around you must have your eyes closed. They are popping up everywhere. Have you seen the little black and white pixelated boxes? If you scan the box with the camera on a smart phone or other mobile device it will automatically take you to the specific web page attached to the QR code. Of course, you have to have an app already loaded to read the QR code.

You can make a QR code for your business or website. You then save the image which you can add to anything like business cards, ads, menus, signs in shop windows, even Tshirts and more. There are a lot of places to make a QR code for free, but not all of them allow you to change the link and keep the same QR code. AT&T has a Create-a-code site where you can go back later and redirect the QR code. Very nice!

What can you do with a QR code?

send traffic to your website
direct customers to a video or audio
offer a coupon
send customers to a squeeze page for a product or mailing list
show a list of current specials or deals
direct people you’ve networked with to your resume
provide information about an event

What else should I add to the list?

Marketing Tips 22 | Press Releases

Jendi — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 19:42:17 +0000

We’ve talked about many online marketing tips. Don’t forget that old fashioned press releases can still get a lot of mileage in printed materials as well as online search. There are templates you can get to help you craft a good press release; or find one you like and change it to meet your needs. It can just cost you your time or you can outsource it to a virtual assistant who can submit the press release to many different places.

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Marketing Tips 21 | Barter

Jendi — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 13:30:55 +0000

When you are a new or small business there’s not always a lot of cash flow to pay for marketing campaigns. Check for someone that you can swap online advertising with or barter your services for ad space on their site or in their physical building. A guest post is a type of barter; you trade your writing and expertise for their blog post and links to your site. Remember to look for complimentary as well as similar businesses.

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Marketing Tips 20 | Chamber of Commerce

Jendi — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 14:38:15 +0000

Look in your local area for the chamber of commerce or small business association. You will benefit by having your business in their listings and by networking with other local business people – even if your business is online. People still trust business owners they have met in real life more than those online.

Marketing Tips 14 | Offline Writing

Marketing Tips 19 | Google Maps

Jendi — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 13:43:54 +0000

Google is a Goldmine – Do not forget to do this very important thing. Get listed on Google Maps. Even if your business is “in the cloud” being on Google Maps will increase your ranking and status almost immediately and it’s free!

Along with this make sure your Google profile is filled out and has relevant pictures and links for your business.

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Marketing Tips 18 | Purchase Advertising

Jendi — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 20:22:59 +0000

Purchase Advertising – Don’t overlook buying ads in Newspapers and Magazines. You can get some good deals if you do the research. Remember that your market needs to see “you” about 7 times before they decide to purchase, so make it regular or don’t bother.

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